Christina and Tom are like many couples. They worked hard, built careers, had a baby, saved money and kept thinking about buying a house. Pre-Covid, they had already decided that they were pretty sure they wanted to move to the Boston area to be closer to family and be able to afford a nicer home. Tom aspired for an awesome home gym, and Christina wanted space to host lots of family and friends. They came to me for help figuring out what the best move was for them and to make sure they were on track for their other financial goals.
Then Covid happened. With it came a little job insecurity (but thankfully not much), as well as working and schooling from home. The Bay Area housing market heated up even more as families sought more space. Financially, it made more sense to move to Boston and that is where their hearts were. However, the trip to Boston to scout out houses was postponed.
Fast forward to summer. Christina and Tom rented an Airbnb outside of Boston to see how it felt to live there. Guess what? They are still there. They didn’t even want to come back to move their things out of their place in San Francisco.
With this move came options. Should they live outside the hustle and bustle and get lots of space for less money, or take advantage of being closer to Boston and walking distance to town and restaurants. The market outside of Boston is hot too. Multiple bids over asking on most listings, and the houses likely still require some work. They are still cheaper than San Francisco, but the frenzy seems the same.
We jumped on a call recently to discuss a particular house on which they wanted to bid. The first thing that I noticed when we got on our Zoom call were their smiles. They seemed so happy and even more energetic. I could tell this geographic change and earnestly being in the house hunt was where they needed to be. Our conversation jumped around as our brains assessed various scenarios, and at the end, a strategy was devised on what to bid for the house, how much to put down, and how to finance the renovations.
The house had eleven bids and twenty-four hours later, they found out they had the winning bid. The strategy worked. They are in escrow right now, so it isn’t a done deal, but they are on the cusp of owning a home and putting down roots. This was a big life decision, and they did it. I consider this a big win!
